I
have a crazy idea, but we have to define two terms really quickly. Ready?
The first part of this is a
phenomenon called “semantic
saturation.” That’s what it’s called when you say a word over and over and over
again until it starts to sound weird. You might think you’re saying it wrong,
or maybe it just begins to sound meaningless. I remember the first time I
experienced this, it was with the word “soldier.” Soldier. Soldier. Soldier.
Weird word. That “j” sound doesn’t seem like it belongs.
The second cog in our wheel here is
the idea of “muscle
confusion.” Since I work at AU, I still get to take advantage of the campus
facilities, and I took that opportunity last year to start learning what to do
in a gym. I am not an athlete. At all. But I wanted to be well! So I watched
someone do a workout on whatever muscle group and copied what they were doing,
and then I would repeat this every visit. It wasn’t until I went with a friend
that I encountered this aforementioned muscle confusion. We did a bicep lift
like usual, but he showed me a different method. I didn’t lift any higher
weights, but I found myself so much sorer than usual! Just a little adjustment
hit tissue I’d been missing before and “confused” my muscle to develop
differently, helping me get stronger.
Okay, so there are two concepts here
on the table, a sweet little blend of linguistics and exercise science. What do
they have to do with each other? Not much actually; but both ideas have helped
refresh my spiritual framework this year.
Most of us in the AU community have
been Christians for a long time. There are super deep roots in the CHOG
tradition. We all know the story of Christ. We all know the story of church.
Heck, we all know the story of Anderson University from Dr. Strege’s LART textbook. Our experience
with this faith system is so engrained in our lives, at times, it begins to
become semantically saturated. Christ. Christ. Christ. Am I saying that right?
I’ve literally been on stage before singing, playing, and leading a
congregation in worship and simultaneously been actively thinking about
Chipotle. We do this stuff so much and so frequently, sometimes it ceases to
mean anything at all to us.
If this resonates with you, here’s my humble advice: confuse your
spiritual muscles. Forget about getting whipped up into a hand-raising spirit
fervor when the bridge of “With Everything” drops just because that’s the
emotional cue. Stop using a rote prayer before lunch. When you reach out to
engage the Spirit, think about what you’re doing. Even in the banal parts of
your day. Question why exactly you’re making that move anyway. Is it because
that’s how you were raised? Cut it out. Your relationship with God is between
you two. If we can squelch these automatic tendencies, we can actually find
communion with Jesus in slightly new, ever-so-subtly different ways and hit
tissue we never even knew existed before. It just takes a little introspective
effort.
One last thought: Star Wars is
awesome. I’ve seen
those movies more than any other single franchise. I knew that story backwards
and forwards. Have you ever watched a movie you love with the director
commentary on though? It’s a wildly different experience. I already knew the
narrative arc of the Skywalker family, but suddenly, I was learning why
it was the way it was. It gave a whole new dimension to my understanding of the
story, of the characters, of the thought processes that brought everything into
motion. I was hearing from the story’s creator why he wrote the story that way.
Consider approaching your spiritual
life with the director commentary on, even if only for a little while. Let the
author tell you about why he wrote the story the way he did. Don’t allow your spirituality to feel
weird in your mouth. Confuse it. It’s the kind of confusion that actually helps
things make sense.
Joshua Powell
Dunn Hall RA, 2010-2012
Dativus President, 2012-2013
10:07 Coordinator
This is awesome, Joshua! Thanks for sharing.
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